Football

Cops rue complacency in match against Felda

Felda United's Edward Wilson (left) celebrates with team-mates after his goal against the Police at the Selayang Stadium on March 21, 2014. The match ended 3-3. – Bernama Photo

PETALING JAYA: Complacency has cost high-riding Police to break their winning streak in the Premier League.

Police coach Dollah Salleh said the cops suffered a minor hicup when they dropped valuable points in the 3-3 draw against Felda United at the Selayang Stadium on Friday. They had been on a winning streak for six games prior to that.

“We paid the price for under-estimating our opponents and this cost us valuable points. The players must always remember that a game is won after 90 minutes. They should never take their foot off the gas after taking a comfortable lead. It is a good lesson for the players,” said a disappointed Dollah yesterday.

The former international said it was frustrating to see his team lose a comfortable two-goal cushion in the first-half.

“We led 2-0 but complacency crept in. This allowed Felda to hit back three goals before we managed to equalise. The players forgot Felda are a team made up of several seasoned campaigners. They have highly-experienced players in Indra Putra Mahayuddin and Mohd Shukor Adan,” said Dollah.

Strikers Ali Ashfaq of Maldives and Charles Chad of Brazil gave Police a 2-0 lead in the 11th and 30th minutes respectively. Then, they went to sleep and allowed Felda to score through Shahrulnizam Mustapha (45th), Indra Putra Mahayuddin (57th) and Edward Wilson (71st). Ali scored the equaliser for Police in the 88th minute.

Table-toppers Police lead the 12-team standings with 19 points from seven matches. They have a game in hand and are ahead of second-placed Penang on goal difference. The Panthers defeated Negri Sembilan 3-1 at the City Stadium.